Center for Community and Economic Development

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ECONOMIC SNAPSHOTS

Working Women

ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT

Working Women

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, more than two-  thirds (69 percent) of all the people older than 16 living in the city of Madison were employed or seeking employment  And more than 80 percent of the women age 25 to 44 living in Madison was employed or seeing employment. 

 

Comparable data for every community in the state is available on the UW-Extension Center or Community Economic Development  Web site at: http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/indicate.html .

Questions or comments are welcome at: bill.pinkovitz@uwex.edu

 

Working Women

The percentage of women age 25-44 working in the United States has doubled since 1950.

   Percentage of women in the labor force with    children age six or more:

workingwomenchart

SOURCE: UW-Extension and WI State Journal

 

How to create a SNAPSHOT like this for your community.

step 1: Getting the data  The easiest place to obtain all the data needed to recreate this SNAPSHOT is at American FactFinder on the U.S. Census website.

Select: Census 2000 Summary File 3 (SF 3) – Sample Data

Click: Enter A Table Number

Type: "P45" and Click: GO

Select: The appropriate geographies (i.e. Madison, Wisconsin.

Click: Show Results

  
 

Working Women Have you ever wondered why, at 5:30 P.M., the express lane at the grocery store is always so long?  Why can’t  people shop for groceries at 2:00 P.M. when the store is empty? Like you, most of them just got off of work and are rushing home to prepare dinner.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, over two-thirds (69%) of all people over the age of sixteen living in the City of Madison were employed or seeking employment A few were working the third shift, but most were working at 2:00 P.M. and unable to shop for groceries or anything else.

What about a more relevant market segment for grocery stores:  Women age 25 to 44 years old?  Over 80% of the women age 25 to 44 living in the city of Madison were employed or seeking employment.

What about women with children? The labor participation rate in the City of madison for women (16+ years old) with children over five years old was 87%.

Working Women always gets people’s attention – especially local retailers, employers, and day care providers.

Table P45 PRESENCE OF CHILDREN UNDER 18 YEARS BY AGE OF OWN CHILDREN BY EMPLOYMENT STATUS FOR FEMALES 16 YEARS AND OVER

U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 workingwomenwithchildren

 

The math is simple. In 2000, there are 10,290 women with children age 6 to 17 years old in Madison, Wisconsin. A total of 8,917 were in the labor force (8,760 were employed plus 157 were unemployed, but actively looking for work) Dividing 8,917 by 10,290 reveals that 86.7% of the women with children age 6 to 17 years were in the labor force.

8,917 ÷ 10,290 = .867 = 86.7%